The best formula for designing a Tweet

If you’re still trying to figure what works and what doesn’t work when composing a Tweet, it’s understandable – it’s not easy. However, there are a few tricks that work at least for now.

Be personable. The people who follow you are human; so you want to write, well, as human as possible. Also keep in mind, at all times, your brand identity and tone on the platform.

We’re all in it together. Use words, such as “you,” “we,” or “us.” It makes a difference to your audience to know you’re on their side. That way they feel there’s a person talking to them. People can easily be turned off if your tweets come off robotic.

Ask questions. The best kind of intro to a tweet is a question. But remember the platform. Don’t ask a question that requires a yes or no answer.

Example: Have you ever tried strawberries in a banana smoothie? Check out these cool recipes + shortened link.

If you’re referencing someone else’s material, cite them with ‘via’ and then include their Twitter handle. This is great for a possible retweet by the person you’re citing and engagement.

Tip: Make sure you have enough room for your shortened link.

Offering stats, information, tips and using the word “here” never fails. Numbers or sharing an interesting fact always result in great engagement. Your audience wants to know what’s the epidemic of something. Is something a pattern? They’re hungry for statistics.

You can say something like: “By posting a visual with your content, you have a 80 percent chance of being retweeted. Here’s why (shortened link here)

Again, if you are referencing information from someone else’s material, attribute them. It makes positions you as a reliable resource to your audience, and establishes a connection with the person’s information you are sharing.

Use quotes. One thing that helps is finding a piece of information in an article you anticipate sharing on Twitter. It has to be a great quote; otherwise, what’s the point of tweeting it to your audience.

As you saw, I also used a hashtag and that brings me to my last point.

Put hashtags at the end of your tweet or in front of key words. It’s bad practice to have more than 4 hashtags for Twitter. It makes you come off as desperate. One or two will get the job done. In the example tweet above, the hashtag wasn’t at the end. It was used for a key word instead. Know your Twitter key words and use them as hashtags. You have to search those words in Twitter to see if they receive frequent activity. But when all fails, include the hashtag in the end.

Example: What’s the trick to engagement? @deontaemoore says it’s all about the visuals (shortened link here) via @handle of the outlet #socialmedia

You can tie all the formula into one once you get comfortable with designing a good tweet.

Use the headline of the article you’re sharing. Many people do this and it’s fine. However, you want your tweets to stand out amongst the crowd. If you’re going to share the headline, just make sure you attribute the correct people.